Our culture

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Everyone here knows our three imperatives: health and safety, customer service and delivery. They inform how we transform our roads. What we do is important, and how we do it is just as important. So we've taken care to embed a culture that empowers all of us.

Our values

We are proud of our five core values. They are our guiding principles, the standards that guide everything we do, both as individuals and together. By living them every day, we will do the best we can for everyone who relies on England’s motorways and major A roads.

Passion

We actively demonstrate our commitment and enthusiasm. We care about the business, our contribution and how we go about our duties.
We care about each other and our customers, and we relish the chance to improve every day.

Ownership

We take responsibility for making things happen. We're all accountable for our own performance. What’s more, we take the initiative to stretch ourselves and do more than 'what's expected'.
Then when we meet customer and business goals, we celebrate our success.

Teamwork

Working well together is fundamental because our business is inclusive. We value diversity and everyone’s talents. So we work together to achieve our goals and we support each other to get the best results.
We build strong relationships and we have great conversations.

Our values in action

Saving a life on the motorway

“No matter how difficult or complicated an incident on the network might be, Steve puts the customer at ease, looking after their welfare while he manages traffic.” - Paul Yates, Team Manager

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Our values in action

It's what we do to live our values that counts. You'll see them lived in the ways we behave every day at Highways England. For example, take Steve and Richard...

Steve Adams: saving a life on the motorway

Traffic Officer Steve is known for his customer service skills. As his Team Manager Paul Yates says, “No matter how difficult or complicated an incident on the network might be, Steve puts the customer at ease, looking after their welfare while he manages traffic.”

In the summer of 2016, Steve leapt into action demonstrating not just his commitment to safety and his ability to own a situation, but also, his integrity. A customer was driving on the M3, when her three-year-old son suffered his first seizure. She pulled over, feeling helpless.

When Steve arrived, he immediately calmed the situation down. He briefed emergency services, and talked to the boy while they waited to reassure him, before carrying him into the ambulance. It moved the boy’s mother to comment, “If Steve was afraid or nervous, he didn’t show it. He was amazing.”

Leadership

All of us at Highways England live and breathe our values. None more so than our leaders. They set the standard and help to power our enthusiasm through the toughest challenges.

Whatever level you join us at, you can rest assured that every one of our leaders benefits from management development training designed to make Highways England an even better place.

We all have a part to play in shaping a culture of high performance. With inspiring leadership, clear direction and values that matter, we will revolutionise the road together.